


The Beginning of a Bad Idea

by RoverMaelstrom



Series: Larp OC Fics [7]
Category: Vampire: The Masquerade
Genre: M/M, Vampire Hunters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:03:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27124238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoverMaelstrom/pseuds/RoverMaelstrom
Summary: Ashton, fresh off a bad breakup and busy venting his anger with a level of recklessness that borders on suicidal, meets a Hunter who doesn't know that some leeches didn't *quite* leave life behind when they were embraced.*Rating may change as I write more chapters, fair warning, there may be smut ahead*
Series: Larp OC Fics [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691053





	The Beginning of a Bad Idea

Another night, another southern city, the heat oppressive and thick with humidity. Ashton prowled through the mostly empty streets, frustration and anger broiling inside him. The night was emptier than usual, with the people who were out moving quickly, alertly, and most often not alone. A killer had been stalking the neighborhood, everyone local knew - even though the police were blaming the sudden rash of dead rough sleepers on overdoses, it was blatantly obvious to anyone with half a brain that those people hadn’t died of something being put into their veins. It was also blatantly obvious - to someone who had all the pieces, anyway - that the police were so invested in covering it up because nobody likes to admit there’s vampires stalking the streets. Especially not the vampires.

Ashton was just turning a corner when he heard a gasping whimper. Eyes narrowing, he followed his ears down an alley, moving softly, silently through the detritus scattered about. When he stepped around a dumpster, though, he realized he needen’t have bothered. The vampire pinning the whimpering mortal to the wall was so enthralled by the blood that he wouldn’t have heard a freight train, much less a single small, compact man. Ashton stood paused, sizing up the vampire in front of him, clearly doing the calculus of whether it was likely he’d be able to win if he started the fight then and now, when suddenly all calculation went out the window when the vampire shifted, giving Ashton a look at the victim. The boy was maybe sixteen, maybe younger, and fading rapidly, his eyes already unfocused and his whimpers slowly dying as his attacker drained him past the point of sanity. On seeing this, Ashton snapped, darting forward with supernatural speed grabbing the vampire by his unkempt, stringy hair. The other vampire gurgled, blood spilling down his front as he flailed, releasing the street kid and attempting to respond to his attacker. He was too slow, though, as Ashton continued to move faster than most people would credit possible, his hands grasping the vampire’s neck and shoulder and pulling, rending the creature into chunks with strength just as supernatural as his speed. The vampire struggled, but just couldn’t move fast enough, especially not with the shock of the unexpected attack, and soon enough what was left of his body sagged, his eyes going dark and decomposition setting in rapidly. Ashton grunted in surprise as the decomposition stopped fairly quickly - clearly this vampire hadn’t been dead long, not to leave a corpse this identifiable behind. His eyes narrowed, anger still rolling at the surface, and he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and centering himself, re-chaining the Beast, and bringing himself back to the surface. He opened his eyes, preparing himself to check and see if the boy slumped against the wall would be able to make it to a hospital, and started back in shock. A man in a long coat knelt next to the boy, checking his pulse.

“Who the fuck are you?” Ashton spat in surprise, warily eyeing the man, who turned to look briefly up at Ashton before turning back to the boy.

“Name’s Corey, come on, the kid’s still alive. Help me get him out of this alley and I’ll call an ambulance, he might pull through if we get him blood fast enough,” Corey said, standing and walking back out to the street at a good clip.

Ashton knelt down and scooped the kid up gently, a much too faded heartbeat echoing through his hands as he did so. He headed back down the alley and paused for a moment, then laid the kid gently against the phone booth Corey stood in. After a moment, the other man hung up and stepped out of the booth, giving Ashton another look.

“I’ve called it in, and I’ve called my cousin - he’s a nurse at the closest hospital - and he’ll make sure they know he needs blood, even though they won’t find open wounds. They should be here shortly,” he paused, as the wail of the ambulance echoed from a few blocks away.

Ashton nodded, then glanced down the alleyway. Corey followed his gaze, eyes hardening. “It doesn’t matter what that thing looks like, the local bigshots will cover it up just like they’ve been covering up the murders that thing has been committing.” He shifted slightly, letting his coat fall open, and Ashton’s eyes widened as understanding hit him. He stepped warily back, his hands lifting in front of him in a protective manner as he slowly backed away from the Hunter. Corey cocked an eyebrow, then chuckled. “I’m not that kind of Hunter, relax man, you’re all good.”

Ashton stared at the bandoleer of stakes and flashbangs concealed under the all too unseasonable Van Helsing cloak, still backing away, his mind whirring in confusion. “Not that kind of Hunter? Forgive me if I don’t have a fucking clue what you’re talking about,” he replied slowly.

Corey smiled, “I’m not one of those religious maniacs who thinks anything supernatural needs to die - I only hunt leeches. And I can tell you’re not dead. You’re not human, sure, but auras don’t lie and yours isn’t like the ones the leeches have. It’s obvious.”

Ashton stopped backing away, curiosity overcoming caution for a moment. “You aren’t about to start throwing holy water and cold iron and hawthorne stakes and shit at me?”

Corey shook his head, a sad smile on his face. “Nah man, a changeling helped me out of a rough spot once, I get it. Here,” he turned, pulling open his backpack and digging out a bundle of clothing. “Go change, before the EMTs get here and ask awkward questions.”

Ashton caught the tossed bundle and, with a wary look at the Hunter, ducked back down the alleyway. He paused next to the corpse, then, setting the clean clothes down out of the way, quickly pitched the body parts into the back of the mostly full dumpster, pausing only to snap a quick picture of the head with the disposable camera in his pocket before throwing it in too and shifting some trash bags to cover everything up. He quickly stripped out of his bloody clothing, shoving it into the dumpster as well, and shrugged into the clean t-shirt and somewhat too large jeans. As he was changing he heard the ambulance pull up, Corey murmuring quietly with the EMTs while they loaded the unconscious boy in, and the sirens blaring as they sped away as fast as they’d appeared. Ashton cautiously stepped out of the alley way and, to his mild surprise, saw Corey waiting for him on the street corner.

“I figured you didn’t want your involvement mentioned, so I just told them that the assailant fled as I approached and I found the kid on the ground,” he said, and Ashton nodded in relief.

“Thanks for that, and for calling your cousin, that might make the difference in the kid surviving or not,” Ashton shrugged awkwardly, then continued, “I appreciate the clothes too. Where can I send them back, if you want ‘em back?”

Corey shrugged and flapped a hand at Ashton, “Don’t worry about that, they’re cheap shit designed to get fucked up or given away. Though…” he paused, then grinned at Ashton, “if you really want to say thank you for covering your ass, figuratively and literally, come have a drink with me? It’s good not to be alone after a fight, even if I wasn’t the one hitting things this time.”

Ashton raised an eyebrow at the Hunter, slowly looking him up and down. Corey was tall, somewhere just north of six feet, and under the heavy coat Ashton could see muscle filling out his sweat soaked t-shirt. His long brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, with bands around it leading down to the base, and his baby blue eyes sat above an easy smile. An appraising grin spread across Ashton’s face. “Well, if you insist,” he replied, his eyes twinkling.

**Author's Note:**

> Ashton is, as with all characters in this series, an original larp character. He was created for the 2017 Mind's Eye Society Vampire: The Masquerade chronicle and now that the chronicle is over, I'll be posting various stories and roleplay snippets as I edit and clean them up. This story highlights three of his merits - Personal Masquerade, Whisper of Life, and Ear to the Ground - and is set about 15 years before the start of the chronicle.
> 
> (For those who are unaware, Personal Masquerade means that a vampire passes as alive to the physical senses, Whisper of Life means they held on to enough life at embrace for their aura to look alive, and Ear to the Ground means they have an in, somehow, with the Hunters.)


End file.
